The 33-year-old Mongolian yokozuna has told police and the association that he beat and injured Takanoiwa, another Mongolian wrestler, at a drinking party in the city of Tottori, western Japan, during a sumō tour in late October.

At a press conference in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Wednesday, Harumafuji said, “I feel responsible as a yokozuna for injuring Takanoiwa and I’m retiring as of today.”

“I’m truly sorry from the bottom of my heart for bringing inconvenience to the people who have supported me, and I did what a yokozuna should not have done,” he said.

It is the first retirement of a yokozuna since Asashōryu, a Mongolian, was forced to end his sumō career in February 2010 after assaulting an acquaintance.